A few weeks after the federal government battled to defend itself from allegations of marginalisation by northern stakeholders, the Tinubu administration has begun moves to revitalise the moribund United Nigeria Textile industry in Kaduna.
Recall that the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, had recently accused the Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of ignoring the North in its infrastructure distribution across the country.
Kwankwaso said the North had suffered greatly from bad roads and lack of infrastructure, adding that the president has focused on Southern Nigeria while denying the North its fair share of budgetary provisions.
Kwankwaso’s claim was further echoed by the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Board of Trustees, Alhaji Bashir M. Dalhatu, who expressed deep concerns over what he described as the growing marginalisation of Northern Nigeria under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Speaking at a high-level interactive session between Northern civil society groups and senior federal government officials in Kaduna, organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Dalhatu recalled the region’s strong electoral support for President Tinubu, contributing over 64% of his total votes in the 2023 presidential election.
“Despite our support and goodwill, the feeling in the North is, to put it mildly, completely mixed. Key infrastructural projects, budgetary allocations, appointments, and policy decisions have largely sidelined Northern Nigeria,” Dalhatu said.
He cited critical areas of neglect, including insecurity, agriculture, transport infrastructure, power supply, education, healthcare, and the abandonment of strategic projects like the Ajaokuta Steel Plant and Kolmani oil exploration.
These claims were, however, denied by the federal government, which insisted that the president has remained fair to all zones of the country, adding that there has been equitable distribution of the nation’s resources.
In a swift response to the accusations, the federal government announced its intention to revive the moribund Kaduna textile industry to boost the country’s economy.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, made the intervention during his remarks at a 2-day Interactive Session on Government-Citizen Engagement on Tuesday in Kaduna.
Acting on that promise, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, on Tuesday embarked on an inspection tour of key textile facilities in Kaduna State.
The ministry said in a statement issued on Tuesday that the tour is part of the federal government’s industrial recovery plan under Agenda 7 of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 8-point agenda, which prioritises job creation, inclusive economic growth, and sustainable industrial development.
According to the statement, “the government has held stakeholder engagements to address industry bottlenecks, encourage public-private partnerships, and collaborate with development agencies to strengthen policy frameworks and boost the sector’s export potential.”
Senator Enoh, who highlighted the significance of reviving United Nigeria Textiles Limited (UNTL), noted that its return to full operations would restore investor confidence in Nigeria’s textile heritage and ignite broader industrial transformation.
He assured stakeholders of the Tinubu administration’s commitment to repositioning the cotton, textile, and garment (CTG) sector as a pillar of inclusive economic growth.
During the visit, the Emir of Kano and Chairman of UNTL, His Royal Highness Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, decried the shutdown of the once-thriving factory in 2022, citing economic difficulties despite its track record of employing over 10,000 people across the value chain.
Emir Sanusi regretted that the factory’s collapse has worsened youth unemployment, insecurity, and social vices in the region.
He therefore urged the federal government to urgently tackle key challenges facing the sector, including inconsistent power supply, smuggling and dumping of foreign textiles, weak intellectual property protection, and poor institutional support for local textile procurement, especially for military and paramilitary uniforms.